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'Transition Center' for Vets May Come To WR

Governor Nathan Deal wants to help veterans rejoin the workforce when they return from combat by creating a Gateway Center.
Officials in Warner Robins hope the state chooses the International City to build.

Governor Nathan Deal wants to help veterans rejoin the workforce when they return from combat by creating a Gateway Center.

Officials in Warner Robins hope the state chooses the International City to build.

Monday night, Warner Robins city council voted to give a piece of land, north of Russell Parkway and adjacent to Highway 247 to the state, with the hope of securing a spot for the state's new Gateway Center.

Shaw Blackmon, a board member for the State Technical College of Georgia, says the school would help members of the military and veterans transition back into the workforce.

"You know our nation's heroes have come back from serving this country and we want to take what they've already acquired, what they're already using and put that to work for them," explains Blackmon

He says Governor Deal set aside ten million dollars in next year's budget for the center, and he hopes they'll choose to bring it to the International City.

Hotel General Manager, Ojash Shah, says he hopes the school comes to the city, because it would boost his business. "It will bring in a lot of people, the hotels of course will do well, the whole town in general will do well if and when the school does happen."

"I think when you start talking about Middle Georgia and everyday is armed forces appreciation day, it makes sense to locate it somewhere in Middle Georgia and across the street from Robins Air Force Base was an ideal spot," says Blackmon. The final details still have to be ironed out, like what courses or programs will be offered, but Blackmon says the biggest challenge is getting the State House and Senate on board.

Blackmon says if the State House and Senate approve the Gateway Center, it could take several years to be put in place.

The Governor's office referred us to Mike Light at the Technical College System of Georgia, he said he's not sure when they'll decide on a location.